Star surfer Wilson suffers injury setback

Star Australian surfer Julian Wilson's world championship hopes have taken a hit as he faces missing the season-opening home leg of the tour with a shoulder injury.

Wilson was mountain biking in Newcastle last week as part of pre-season training before crashing and suffering a ruptured AC joint.

"I went over the handle bars, landed square on my shoulder and ruptured the AC joint in my shoulder," the 29-year-old told his social media followers.

"It's not going to require surgery.

"It's extremely uncomfortable, hence the bag of peas on my shoulder.

"There's no great time frame for recovery. I've just got to take it one step at a time."

Wilson, who finished third in the championship last year, vowed to come back stronger despite lamenting "forced rest".

Last year was his strongest on the elite world tour, winning in Tahiti and finishing runner-up in Portugal.

The season begins with the Gold Coast Pro on March 11.